Why do people snore
When you inhale, air passes through the nose, nasopharynx and pharynx. During the day, the muscles of the pharynx keep the lumen open, and during sleep the tone decreases, especially in the deep sleep phase and in the supine position. If the opening is narrow, the air flow accelerates and the soft tissue begins to vibrate. The stronger the constriction, the louder the snoring. When the pharynx completely collapses, breathing stops for a few seconds - this is apnea. The brain reacts with a micro-awakening, the person snores loudly and begins to breathe again, but sleep becomes superficial.
- Simple snoring - without stopping breathing or drowsiness
- Upper airway resistance syndrome
- Mild, moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea
- Positional snoring - back only
- Children's snoring with adenoids and tonsils
Causes and risk factors
The main factor is excess weight: fatty tissue in the neck narrows the throat. Alcohol, sleeping pills and some sedatives relax muscles and increase snoring. Difficulty in nasal breathing due to a deviated septum, chronic rhinitis, or polyps forces one to breathe through the mouth and increases tissue vibration. Anatomical features - a long soft palate, a large uvula, large tonsils, a small lower jaw - also predispose to snoring. With age, muscle tone decreases; in women, snoring more often appears after menopause.
- Obesity and increased neck circumference
- Alcohol, sleeping pills and sedatives
- Deviated septum, rhinitis, nasal polyps
- Enlarged tonsils and adenoids
- Long soft palate, small lower jaw
- Smoking
- Sleeping on your back
- Hypothyroidism
Signs of sleep apnea
It is impossible to distinguish safe snoring from apnea by sound alone, but there are characteristic signs. With apnea, snoring is interrupted by pauses of silence, followed by a loud snore or sigh. The person sleeps restlessly, often wakes up, and gets up to go to the toilet at night. In the morning he feels sleep-deprived, has a headache and dry mouth. During the day, drowsiness, decreased attention and memory, irritability, and possible falling asleep while driving appear. Apnea is often combined with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heart rhythm disturbances.
- Pauses in breathing during sleep
- Loud snores and sighs
- Daytime sleepiness
- Morning headaches
- Frequent night urination
- Decreased concentration and memory
- Difficult to control blood pressure
Diagnostics
The ENT doctor evaluates nasal breathing, the condition of the septum and nasal turbinates, the size of the tonsils, soft palate and tongue. Endoscopy allows you to examine the nose, nasopharynx and pharynx and find the level of narrowing. To find out whether there is apnea and how severe it is, a sleep study is performed: polysomnography in a sleep laboratory or simplified respiratory monitoring at home. These studies record breathing, blood oxygen saturation, pulse, and body position. Patients with sleep apnea also have their blood pressure, glucose levels and thyroid function checked.
- Examination of ENT organs
- Endoscopy of the nose and throat
- Polysomnography
- Cardiorespiratory sleep monitoring
- Daytime sleepiness questionnaires
- Blood pressure measurement, blood glucose, TSH
Treatment and what helps
For simple snoring, it is often enough to change your lifestyle: lose weight, avoid drinking alcohol and sleeping pills before bed, sleep on your side, and treat nasal congestion. Intraoral mouthguards that advance the lower jaw help with snoring and mild apnea. The main method of treating moderate and severe apnea is CPAP therapy: the device supplies air under low pressure and prevents the throat from collapsing. Operations on the septum, nasal turbinates and soft palate are performed according to strict indications. Children with enlarged adenoids and tonsils usually benefit from having them removed.
- Weight loss
- Avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills before bed
- Sleeping on your side
- Treatment of rhinitis and restoration of nasal breathing
- Intraoral mouth guards
- CPAP therapy for apnea
- Septoplasty, turbinate plastic surgery, adenotomy and tonsillectomy according to indications
